CHAPTER 15: A NATION DIVIDED
WILMOT PROVISO
1846 proposal that outlawed
slavery in any territory
gained from the War with
Mexico.
FREE-SOIL PARTY
Political party dedicated to stopping
the expansion of slavery.
STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS
Illinois senator who backed
the Compromise of 1850.
COMPROMISE OF 1850
 Series of laws intended to settle the major
disagreements between free states and slave
states.
ONE EUROPEAN’S STORY
 1) Alexis de Tocqueville traveled down the Ohio
River and noted the differences he saw between
the free Ohio side and Kentucky slave side.
 Kentucky side had people without energy or the
spirit for enterprise, while the Ohio side was
feverish with activity trying hard to make its
fortunes.
NORTH AND SOUTH TAKE DIFFERENT PATHS
 1) The North and the South developed different economic
paths. North=Industry/ South= plantation farming
 2) Northern population growth came from immigrants and
Easterners moved west and built farms.
 3) Southerners relied on exports, especially cotton grown from
slave labor.
 4) Most Southern whites were poor and owned no slaves, but
someday hoped to.
ANTISLAVERY AND RACISM
 1) Many Northerners opposed slavery because it was an
economic threat. They feared that managers would employ
slaves rather than them.
 2) Despite opposing slavery, most Northerners were racist by
modern standards. They refused to go to school, work, or live
near African Americans.
 3) Slaveholders defended slavery by saying they provided them
food, shelter, religion, and clothing.
THE WILMOT PROVISO
 1) To prevent Southerners from extending slavery into new territories,
Northerner David Wilmot proposed a bill to outlaw slavery in any new
territory acquired from the War with Mexico.
 2) Southerners viewed slaves as property and claimed the new bill as
unconstitutional.
 3) The Wilmot Proviso divided Congress along regional lines. (If you were
in the North you were for it, if you were form the South you opposed
it.)
 4) The Wilmot Proviso led to the creation of the Free-Soil Party. A
political party dedicated to stopping the expansion of slavery.
CONTROVERSY OVER TERRITORIES
 1) The addition of new states threatened the balance of
power in Congress between the North and South.
 2) Zachary Taylor acted fast and proposed California
apply for statehood as a free state.
 3) Now that California was a free state, slave states
would become a minority in the Senate.
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850
 1) However, California could not gain statehood without the
approval of Congress.
 2) Henry Clay attempted to create a compromise again.
 3) Many on both sides felt they had to give up too much in his
plan.
 4) To please the North, California would be a free state and the
slave trade would be abolished in Washington, D.C. To please
the South, Congress would not block slavery in other
territories captured from Mexico and they would pass a law to
help recapture runaway slaves.
QUIZ
 1) Why did many Northern wage workers oppose slavery?
 A) They thought it was immoral.
 B) They feared enslaved workers would replace them.
 C) They resented plantation owners.
 D) Slavery made them feel inferior.
 2) Which was a result of the Wilmot Proviso?
 A) California became a state.
 B) Congress lost the authority to approve the entry of new states into
the Union.
 C) Missouri became a slave state.
 D) The Free-Soil Party was formed.
 3) What was a result of the compromise of 1850?
 A) California became a slave state.
 B) Oregon became a slave state to regain balance of power in Congress.
 C) The South would be allowed to bring slaves into western territories taken from
the War with Mexico.
 D) The South would have to release and free all enslaved people.
 4) Who led the charge for the compromise of 1850?
 A) Frederick Douglass
 B) David Wilmot
 C) Stephen A. Douglas
 D) Nat Turner
FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT
1850 law meant to help slaveholders
recapture runaway slaves.
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
 Abolitionists; author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
UNCLE TOM’S CABIN
 Novel published by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852 that
showed slavery as brutal and immoral.
KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT
 1854 law that established the territories of Kansas and
Nebraska and gave their residents the right to decide
whether to allow slavery.
ONE AMERICAN’S STORY
 1) Harriet was outraged when she heard about the
Fugitive Slave Act
 2) Stowe’s anger motivated her to write Uncle Tom’s
Cabin. This novel portrayed slavery as brutal and
immoral.
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT
 1) People could be arrested without a warrant and have
no trial.
 2) Northerners were required to help recapture slaves.
 3) Northerners could no longer ignore slavery because
it was at their doorstep.
UNCLE TOM’S CABIN
 1) Stowe’s book was popular in the North, but
white southerners believed the book falsely
criticized the South and slavery.
KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT
 1) Stephen A. Douglas wanted to divide the Nebraska territory
into two because people were fighting about slavery.
 2) Douglas wanted the people living there to decide whether or
not slavery would exist in these two territories.
 3) The passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act took away the
Missouri Compromise and allowed people to vote again on
whether or not to allow slavery in the western territories.
BLEEDING KANSAS
 1) Proslavery and antislavery supporters rushed to
Kansas to vote on the issue of slavery.
 2) It was such a heated issue that the two support
groups started attacking each other.
VIOLENCE IN CONGRESS
 1) While violence was spreading in Kansas, Senator Charles
Sumner gave a speech bashing proslavery forces in Kansas.
 2) Sumner was attacked by a relative of someone he criticized.
 3) Many Southerners cheered the attack, while most
Northerners were shocked at the violence in the Senate.
QUIZ
 1)What was a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
 A) It allowed the use of popular sovereignty in
territories acquired from Mexico.
 B) It destroyed the Missouri Compromise.
 C) It reorganized all remaining Western territories.
 D) It permitted residents of one state to vote in
another.
 2) Which law punished Northern whites who
did not help capture runaway slaves?
 A) Compromise of 1850
 B) Kansas-Nebraska Act
 C) Fugitive Slave Act
 D) Wilmot Proviso
3) Who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin?
A) Alexis de Tocqueville
B) Stephen A. Douglas
C) Charles Sumner
D) Harriet Beecher Stowe
 4) Violence began to spread even into politics. Charles
Sumner was attacked after bashing proslavery forces
during a speech. How did some southerners react after
hearing this news?
 A) They were appalled at the brutality
 B) They did not care
 C) Many cheered after hearing about the attack
 D) They blamed the North
REPUBLICAN PARTY
 Political party formed in 1854 by opponents of
slavery
JOHN C. FREMONT
 Republican presidential candidate in 1856
JAMES BUCHANAN
 Democratic presidential candidate in 1856
DRED SCOTT V. SANDFORD
 1856 Supreme Court case in which a slave, Dred
Scott, sued for his freedom; the Court ruled
against Scott
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
 Illinois Republican who ran against Stephen A.
Douglas in 1858
WHIG PARTY
 Political party organized in 1834 to oppose
the policies of Andrew Jackson
ONE AMERICAN’S STORY
 1) Joseph Warren wanted antislavery parties
to join forces. Antislavery politicians form new
party called Republicans.
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY FORMS
 1) The Whig Party split because of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of
1854
 2) The Northern Whigs joined with others to form the
Republican Party
 3) Republicans gained power through the “Bleeding Kansas”
event because Democrats were blamed for the violence.
 4) The Republicans nominated John C. Fremont to represent
them
THE ELECTION OF 1856
 1) The Democrats nominated James Buchanan to
represent them in the presidential election
 2) Buchanan spoke little about slavery and claimed his
goal was to maintain the Union
 3) Buchanan won the election over Fremont, but the
Republican party was growing in strength and showing it
was a major force.
THE CASE OF DRED SCOTT
 1) Scott had been a slave in Missouri and his owner took him to
live in territories where slavery was illegal.
 2) Scott sued for his freedom and argued that he was a free
man because he now lived in a place where slavery was illegal.
 3) The Supreme Court ruled against Scott saying that he was
not a U.S. citizen and that they could not ban slavery
LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE
 1) Republicans were now gaining support because people wanted to stop
slavery
 2) They nominated Abraham Lincoln to run against Douglas for U.S.
Senate
 3) The two men held formal debates across Illinois and these became a
model for political debates.
 4) Lincoln = did not want the expansion of slavery. Douglas = wanted
people to vote on it even thought the Supreme Court ruled that they
could not ban slavery.
JOHN BROWN ATTACK HARPERS FERRY
 1) Brown wanted to inspire slaves to fight for their freedom. He
decided to capture the weapons in the U.S. arsenal at Harpers
Ferry,Virginia
2) Brown and 18 followers killed four people in the raid and
sent word to rally and arm local slaves
 3) No slaves joined the fight, instead he was captured and
sentenced to hang. Southerners were outraged and
Northerners tolled bells and fired guns in salute. The nation was
reaching a breaking point.
CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA
Confederation formed in 1861 by the
Southern states after their secession from
the Union
JEFFERSON DAVIS
 First president of the Confederate States of
America
CRITTENDEN COMPROMISE
 Compromise introduced in 1861 that might
have prevented secession
PLATFORM
 Statement of beliefs
STATES’ RIGHTS
Idea that the states have certain rights
that the federal government cannot
overrule
ONE AMERICAN’S STORY
 1) Most people thought Seward would win the
Republican’s presidential nomination
 2) Lincoln began gaining popularity and won
instead
POLITICAL PARTIES SPLINTER
 1) Democrats were unsure about what to say of slavery in their
platform
 2) Southern Democrats were not happy with Northern
Democrats. Southerners did not want people to vote on the
issue of slavery. They wanted all the states to allow slavery.
 3) The Democrats ended up choosing Douglas as their
presidential candidate.
 4) Southern Democrats decided to choose their own candidate
in John Breckinridge
THE ELECTION OF 1860
 1) The election of 1860 turned into two different races,
one in the North and one in the South
 2) This election made it clear that the nation was tired
of compromise.
 3) Lincoln won the North and because it had more
people he won the election.
 4) Southerners did not trust Lincoln because they
believed he would abolish slavery.
SOUTHERN STATES SECEDE
 1) Southerners had warned that if Lincoln won, the Southern
states would secede
 2) South Carolina became the first state to secede
 3) The states that seceded formed the Confederate States of
America and named Jefferson Davis as president
 4) The Confederacy was prepared to defend its separation and
many knew war was inevitable
THE UNION RESPONDS TO SECESSION
 1) James Buchanan argues against secession and
many believe secession to be unconstitutional
 2) Southerners thought the North would use their
majority to force the south to abolish slavery. The
North thought the South was unwilling to follow
the rules of democracy.
EFFORTS TO COMPROMISE FAIL
 1) John Crittenden developed a compromise plan but it failed
to pass
 2) Once Lincoln took office, he assured the South that he had
no intention of abolishing slavery there.
 3) Lincoln did not want to invade the South, but he would not
abandon the government’s property there. The government still
owned many forts in the South like Fort Sumter.